We received notice from Apple last evening regarding their rejection of our resubmission of the Manhattan Declaration iPhone/iPad app to the Apple App Store. This is an appalling response from Apple. Nearly 500,000 Christians have signed the Manhattan Declaration including representatives from many major Protestant denominations, leading Catholic Bishops and leaders of the Orthodox Church.
Apple is telling us that the apps’ content is considered “likely to expose a group to harm” and “to be objectionable and potentially harmful to others.” Inasmuch as the Manhattan Declaration simply reaffirms the moral teachings of our Christian faith on the sanctity of human life, marriage and sexual morality, and religious freedom and the rights of conscience, Apple’s statement amounts to the charge that our faith is “potentially harmful to others.”
It is difficult to see how this is anything other than a statement of animus by a major American corporation against the beliefs of millions of Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox citizens. It is our sincere hope that Apple will draw back from this divisive and deeply offensive position. The corporation’s leaders must be made to understand that they do the country no good service in capitulating to efforts to stigmatize, marginalize or defame people on one side or the other in important moral debates.
We will be taking this to Apple’s App Review Board after they come back from the Christmas and New Year’s holiday observances they mention. If Apple is in good faith, perhaps they will be willing to submit this matter to arbitration. We will keep you informed. Until there is more to report, we will not be making further comments on this matter.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Freedom-Avoid joining in in any arbitrary “Organized Belief System” including religious, and political. All groups based on arbitrary beliefs are divisive and confrontational by nature. These groups only exist based on a “belief” that they are right, thus everyone with a different “belief” must be wrong.
Apple, please continue to disable the propaganda these groups try to circulate. Thank You!
Good for Apple! The App Store belongs to them, and they can choose what they want to sell and what they don’t want to sell. It’s that simple.
An infinite number of delusional bigoted child molesting fabulists still add up to a bunch of BS foisted on people for the purposes of fear mongering and fund raising amounting to extortion in this life for an imaginary “afterlife” which is being held hostage.
Who really cares what these nuts think? They are a curse to realists everywhere.
Can anyone ever even estimate the total amount of harm caused to people throughout time thanks to the phonies who have cooked up literally thousands of gods out of thin air? And then posed as the spokesmen of these gods?
That there is a constitutional amendment indemnifying this scam is a travesty.
Whenever someone approaches you saying that a supernatural being told them that it’s their job to follow you around and chastise you for your own good, run the other way.
Children ought to be kept away from any organized religion until they’re 18. Segregating little kids from others and filling them with fears of fiery damnation for eternity just so you can squeeze money out of them all their lives is a crime.
US government does not honour free speech either. They pressed everything possible to close Wikileaks so American people woud not know what and how is done in the world on their behalf.
None of Americans actually voted for some of these mean acts that were exposed by Wikileaks and, surely, government should be aware that somebody some day will leak the truth about what they are doing.
As the courts have ruled, hate speech does not qualify as free speech, and the Manhattan Declaration is hate speech to its core. There is no fixing it. The authors need to go about fixing themselves by embracing the tolerance that Christianity teaches.
@ Amerrican
Getting a reputation for wackjob religious fanaticism? America has always been considered by the rest of the world to be populated by wackjob religious fanatics – it was even founded by “Pilgrims” (read “wackjob religious fanatics”) escaping “religious persecution Europe” (read “their religious views were way too extreme for mainstream Europe”).
And with all the comments no one has even addressed my point about censorship, or what your comments would be if they pulled your favorite liberal app (which I can guarantee is offensive to kore Americans than this one).
@mactricity
No one is claiming Apple doesn’t have the right to pull the app, but their reasoning is just plain stupid for a company as smart as Apple. Apple has the right to sensor an app that the majority of Americans would agree with (despite the noisy minority here), and I have the right to tell them Howe stupid I think it is; that’s what makes America great.
And from some of the childish immature comments on here like X, Greg L, and numerous others, I’m even more confident I’m on the “RIGHT” side
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Censorship and cowardice. Apple should believe in God, thinking of its company history.
@Seeker of the Truth- there are a number of posts here addressing your “point”… it’s not censorship protected by the Constitution. It is the free market doing what the free market does. The tyranny of the so-called “majority” isn’t protected here, and Apple can tell them to go fuck themselves if they want to. It’s their store and their investment. It’s as simple as that. All of your other troll-baiting crap is meaningless.
Atlas will Shrug this one off as well. The free market ALWAYS wins….
If you are Christian and wish to read about Christian values on your iPhone or iPad may I recommend the Bible App.
Steve, stick to your guns and tell these fsckers to go fsck themselves.
This is no better than that worthless, public-whoring Greenpeace cartel that ALSO used Apple to get attention. Same shit, different toilet…
@Seeker of the Truth
“… offensive to kore Americans than this one).”
Are you sure you don’t mean “kkkore Americans”, like yourself?
You feeling content that you’re “right”, doesn’t make you correct.
And, gee, capitalizing “right”, putting it in quotation marks, and then even putting a smiley after it, so that, wow, we really get it – How clever!
People like you make it apparent that Apple is making the right (correct) decision here.
Thank you, Apple, for taking a stand against hate.
As a Christian I’m saddened by what I read in these comments. I’m also a devoted Apple “fanboy” as they like to call us, and I sickened by the intolerant attitude of Apple on this issue. The Manhattan Declaration (which most commenting here have NEVER EVEN READ) is not hate speech (unless the Bible is hate speech). Many of would like us Christians to simply shut up about how we feel and what we believe, except in our churches – oh yeah, then go ahead! It’s amazing to me how tolerance is the in word now except there seems to be tolerance for everything and everyone(gays,abortionist, etc…) except Christians. If you don’t like or agree with the app, fine – DON’T GET IT. In that respect it’s like a television station. I have signed the Manhattan Declaration because I believe it. We’re trying to get our message out – though many would like to stamp out any form of Christian expression. Sad day!!! Come on Apple – reconsider! There are others who are offended by your actions. Or maybe you only care about offending a small percentage of people.
Fsck you, Christians. Go take your hypocritical messages of hate elsewhere.
@macbill – Okay, WHO’S the messenger of hate here?
@ rclc
“The Manhattan Declaration (which most commenting here have NEVER EVEN READ) is not hate speech (unless the Bible is hate speech)”
Is the Koran hate speech when it suggests killing of infidels?
If not, then should Apple support an app that suggests the same?
If so, then why do you think the Bible’s hate speech is more okay than the Koran’s?
Apple doesn’t want fart apps, either. They both stink.
It wouldn’t matter if the app was a book of cookie recipes. Apple can reject whatever they want. It’s their store and they make the rules. Don’t like it? Move on and get it elsewhere. Personal responsibility… a trait lacking in automatons with their mob mentalities…
I guess this means that my pro-gay anti-christian app doesn’t have a hope in hell.
he he he….
Apple can do any damn thing they want to. It is their product. If the Christian alliance doesn’t like it, I’m sure they will do just fine on Hemorrhoid… errr… Android or Web O’Mess… err… Web OS.
Wait, I think God just spoke to me… no, that must have been a bit of undigested pie.
Kinda funny reading about intolerance from the Christians, considering the writings (including the bible) is seriously anti-gay. Kind of like barking from the safety of their dog house of worship.
Oh by the way, any organized group that explicitly tells me to join or burn in hell for eternity… can burn in hell for eternity.
Although I’m not gay, any group that says you will burn in hell for eternity because the person you fell in love with has the same equipment you do, can also burn in hell.
You can submit an app that defends civil rights or helps people exercise their civil rights, but you cannot submit an app that seeks to deny other peoples’ civil rights. This is a pretty straightforward policy. You cannot force a store to carry products meant to impinge on others’ civil rights.
@ rclc
As a Christian, I am saddened by your signing that.
@Seeker
I could care less about what Apple does/does not do with their app store. If you wish them to have the “Declaration,” please, by all means, sign their little petition. But please leave the whole right/left debate out of it. You’re right wing. I get it. Doesn’t make you correct.
WAY TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE!
Christian teachings what a joke.
Organized hate and discrimination. As well free pass to inflict injury. Can you say Tillman Murder?
If gay rights are to be protected, how long before the government requires the protection of child molesters. After all, it’s not their choice, it’s just the way they are. Will every network want to ensure that they have the “new” demographic being treated and represented positively in their programming? It would appear that if you wait long enough, everything but morals will be tolerated.
Yes I agree that Apple (as a private company) can accept or reject any app they want. I WANT them to have that right. However, their reasoning (again, coming from an Apple lover) is poor to say the least. “It may cause harm” … “it might offend”. How about the rest of us (many of us by the way) who do believe these truths. No big deal if we’re offended. Also, as I’m reading the comments on this post, and the only comments that seem to be filled with “hate” are those with anti-Christian comments. As I said, tolerance for everything and everyone except Christians. It’s one way only now a days, but Jesus warned of these days too.
@Amerrican:
America isn’t getting a reputation for having wackjob religious fanatics – study your American history… America was FOUNDED by wackjob religious fanatics and the American landscape has been home to the craziest cults in the world.
As far as Apple’s stance… I’m quite happy with their choice to stay out of it. Honest, I don’t feel it’s that their faith is “potentially harmful to others.” It’s more likely that their faith’s followers are “potentially harmful to others.”